


Family is Family

by camnoelgallavich



Series: Franny & Gallavich Chronicles [1]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Babysitting, Dad Mickey, Domestic Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, Franny - Freeform, Gallavich, Guardians - Freeform, Husbands, Inspired by Real Events, Quarantine, Season 11, Uncle Ian, uncle Mickey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:42:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28030353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camnoelgallavich/pseuds/camnoelgallavich
Summary: Hey guys! This is the first fic in my series of Mickey and Franny being a dynamic duo. I have a headcanon that once the boys take over as Franny's guardians (because Debbie is sent to jail post-s10), Mickey and Franny become best friends. They both adore Ian and watching tv, so they have a lot going for them already. 😂Uncle Mickey saves Franny from Debbie's princess party in this oneshot. Thank you to my BFF Shane for coming up with this sweet idea and checking it over for me.
Relationships: Ian Gallagher & Mickey Milkovich, Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich
Series: Franny & Gallavich Chronicles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2053164
Comments: 21
Kudos: 142





	Family is Family

The unprecedented quarantine imposed on the entirety of the world really did a number on the Gallaghers. Two months into being married, the Gallagher-Milkovich’s were not only the guardians of their niece Franny, but they were also forced to stay indoors with each other for hours on end, finding ways to entertain themselves and Franny as the days passed. 

To say Ian was disappointed in Debbie for being locked up was an understatement. She’d always been a rebellious teenager but he was hoping she’d have grown out of that stage when she wasn’t a teenager anymore. He was definitely not expecting to be a guardian to her daughter so soon - he loved Debs but truthfully he assumed she’d eventually do something reckless and stupid, landing her in prison when Franny was a little bit older - but, of course he’d taken full responsibility of taking care of his little niece, who was innocent in all of her mother’s antics. 

Family is family. 

His actual surprise in this situation was that Mickey agreed so easily to Ian taking on this responsibility. He did not have a single argument against Ian accepting guardianship for Franny. And since they’d gotten married a day earlier, Mickey also signed all the legal documents to be her guardian until Debbie would be let out of prison. To be fair, they’d just had a conversation about picking up a stray kid, and although this wasn’t quite what Ian had in mind, he knew Mickey was completely on board when his husband mumbled something about having a trial child with the last signature he signed on the guardianship forms. 

Due to the circumstances, they ended up spending so much time together as a little family unit that Ian got a good look at who Dad Mickey would end up being, when they had kids of their own. He could be stern when he needed to, but Franny was a good kid, so more often than not, Ian would walk in on Mickey explaining something to her in the most Mickey way, or both of them sitting on the couch with popcorn between them and their eyes glued to the TV, bonding by spending so much time together. 

At the beginning of the pandemic, both Ian and Mickey were put under house arrest because no P.O. knew how to employ parolees safely without the proper safety equipment. Mickey had been content collecting unemployment checks and staying home all day doing nothing. It gave them an opportunity to lay low and stay away from Terry, whom Mickey was hoping would catch the virus and finally croak. Turned out, his wish came true - partially. Predictably, Terry had been an anti-masker and the first in their neighborhood to contract it, but unfortunately the bastard survived. 

As time went on, Ian found himself unable to sit idly by while the world was in peril. He had to admit, it was nice to have time to just be with Mickey. Spending the summer laying out in the backyard at night and swimming with their family, while V and her kids came over to use their pool too. It was an interesting change of pace and good for their marriage overall because they were forced to talk shit out while not confined within an 8’ x 10’. 

But, at the same time, Ian was itching to get back out into the workforce. He’d worked hard his entire life and sitting at home for a few months made him feel useless. He wanted to make a difference in the world and even though he couldn’t do much as an ex-con, he knew there was some way he could be helping during this crisis, even if it wasn’t as an EMT. He’d given up on that dream for the time being and, looking at their dwindling savings, all he wanted now was to have a job to support his family. 

In late June, he’d secured a job with Amazon, working long shifts in a warehouse with tons of protective gear on. It was tiring and grueling but he was earning enough money to just barely keep them afloat, and now with Debbie back to take care of Franny, he was of the mindset that Mickey should get his ass off the couch and find a job too. Their ongoing argument about it had occupied his mind for the last few days but it was quickly pushed to the back of his mind as he watched Mickey run into their room with a duffle bag and rush to hide it in the back of their closet. 

“Uh… what’s that?” Ian asked as he pulled his shirt on, getting ready for their niece’s 5th birthday party. 

Mickey looked at Ian over his shoulder, wanting to tell him, but he also didn’t want to ruin the surprise. “Don’t worry about it.” He replied suspiciously with shifty eyes before going back to hiding his loot.

*

**Two days earlier**

Mickey headed to the living room in his robe at 1pm, yawning widely as if he could go for a nap, even though he had just rolled out of bed. He scratched at his chest as he plopped down onto the sofa and pulled his feet up on the coffee table. Within moments, the remote was in his hand and he was about to turn the tv on, when he heard some sniffling. 

He paused a moment to see if the noise would come again, and when it did, he knew exactly where it was coming from. He stood slowly and made his way over to the spot where he and Ian go to hide, under the steps. He was pretty sure his giant oaf was at work so he didn’t know who he was going to find behind the curtain. 

Mickey unironically called it ‘their new spot’. From time to time, he and Ian would crawl under the steps with snacks and sit there when they needed a break from everyone else. The house was always busy and bustling with noise, so sometimes they snuck down to their secret spot, just to have a moment to themselves. To kiss, cuddle, talk, or make out a bit when they missed each other, wanting their husband’s full attention. 

The day Ian had taped up string lights to the base of the steps, lighting up their little spot with a soft yellow glow, the added ambiance had earned him a good bit of groping and a messy blowjob, exactly what he loved.

Mickey smiled at the memory but was then pulled back into the present at the next noise he heard in front of him. Mickey pulled back the navy blue curtain quickly and heard a tiny yelp-like squeak out of his niece. She sat there with her red hair mussed and tear streaks streaming down her cheeks. 

Mickey felt his heart clench as he got down on his knees, bending over to offer his hand. “Shit, what’s goin’ on, Fran?” 

The little girl shook her head and wiped her eyes with her tiny fists ignoring Mickey’s question and hand as she hiccuped out another cry. She was wearing a huge, puffy blue Cinderella dress and it was so oversized, one sleeve was falling off her shoulder. That had to be Debbie’s choice, since she always bought Franny whatever she felt like at Goodwill without asking her. Half of the time, everything was two sizes too big. 

“You comin’ out or am I comin’ in?” He asked her plainly - one of the more gentle threats to leave his mouth, since he was talking to his niece and all. Trying to figure out what was wrong would be a hell of a task if Franny wouldn’t talk to him. His need to console her was outweighing everything else as his eyes scanned her little frame to see if she was injured anywhere. “Did you get hurt?” He tried to get her to talk again. 

Franny shook her head no again and made no move to get up, so Mickey pulled his hand back. He was pretty sure she wasn’t injured so he’d rather get to the bottom of what was bothering her than try to get her out just yet. He waited another beat before deciding to crawl in next to her, the second hiccup shaking her entire body made his heart clench uncomfortably again. 

Mickey sat down on her right, careful not to crush her dress under himself, and he wrapped his arm around her back. He gave her a little squeeze before he turned on the little battery operated string lights. “Hey, why were you sitting in the dark?” He spoke in a softer tone, one that was only reserved for her and Ian. “What’s up, lil Red? If you tell me, I’m sure we can find a way to fix it.” 

At his reassurance, Mickey felt her lean into his side as her dry hiccups slowed. She wiped her runny nose with the back of her hand before looking up at him with round puppy dog eyes. He’d dealt with a lot of those looks as her guardian at the beginning of the year. He swore Franny had to know it killed him to see her this sad, because Mickey always folded and gave her what she wanted. How could he not? 

Mickey’s love for Franny had grown exponentially as he became one of two father figures in her life, but he still had a hard time dealing with familial love when it welled up in his chest like this. But, his uncomfortableness with feelings didn’t matter at all in this moment because he had more important feelings to attend to. 

“Okay, out with it.” He cleared his throat and swiped at his nose with his knuckle. No matter how much he wanted to crush whatever hurt her feelings, he needed to hear it from her before he went out swinging.

“Mommy said I have to have a princess party.” She whined as if it was the worst thing in the world. She pulled her knees up to her chest and twisted her body to curl up against Mickey’s side, resting her tear-stained cheek against his ribs. “And Sandy too.” She sniffled as she wiped her nose on his robe. 

“We went to the store  _ *hiccup* _ , and every  _ *hiccup*  _ toy I wanted, Mommy said no.” She complained, her lower lip trembling.

“That’s not very nice of Peppermint Patty, is it?” Mickey bit the inside of his cheek. He hadn’t expected to get in the middle of a mother-daughter fight when he crawled into his spot, but here he was. And, of course he knew whose side he’d be taking. 

“She said I can decide for my sixth birthday, but that’s so farrrr…” She dragged out the word. Her speech impediment with r’s was slowly fading and Mickey knew he should be happy it was fading but it was so stinking cute that he knew he’d miss it. 

“She’s not listening to what you want, huh?” Mickey pursed his lips as he thought through his options. He watched as Franny shook her head to indicate that Debbie wasn’t listening to her ideas about the party. On one hand, he could try to talk her into enjoying a princess party or he could open his big fat mouth and say- “Well, what  **_do_ ** you want?” 

“I wanted guns and targets. Like you guys have.” She sniffled again, turning those puppy dog eyes on him once more. 

Mickey was flabbergasted, not expecting that at all. His eyes were wide but he schooled the rest of his face before nodding. “Uh… well, I guess…” He had to agree with Debbie Downer on this one, but there was no way he’d say that to his favorite niece out loud. 

No one loves guns more than Mickey, but toy guns definitely weren’t a good theme for a 5-year-old’s birthday party, especially not this little princess. The little angel who loved unicorns and sparkles and talked to every dog that lived on their street. A party with guns wouldn’t suit her personality. But, if that’s what she wanted… 

“Um, you know what? I’ll see what I can do about that. And I’ll talk to your mom for you too, how about that?” He wasn’t going to make any promises yet, but he knew what he had to do. He pulled her into a hug and kissed her messy hair before setting her back down next to him, mentally glossing over the fact that he’d just subconsciously shown affection to someone other than Ian. 

Franny nodded to agree that all of that would make her feel better. 

“Good...” He paused and looked down at her again. “Yo, why did you come in here?” He asked curiously. 

“You come here when Uncle Ian is sad. With him.” She mumbled as she rubbed her eyes again, letting him know that she’d noticed. Smart kid. 

He cleared his throat of emotions once more as he crawled out of the hideout first and then looked over his shoulder at Franny, reaching a hand out towards her again. “Let’s go get some grub. Want a piggyback ride?” He offered, knowing that question always pulled a bright smile out of her. 

Franny immediately took his hand and applied her weight to it as she stood up in the little cubby before running and latching onto Mickey’s back with an ironclad grip around his neck. “Yeah, yeah! Let’s go!” She kicked her legs enthusiastically, trying to get him off the ground. 

*

Mickey saw the disappointed look on Franny’s face as Debbie spent hours setting up for her perfect princess party. There was a huge poster in the living room and a hot pink tiered cake right next to it, while bright pink streamers stretched across the room. He noticed the birthday girl wasn’t talking as much as she usually did and seeing her sulking as she ate lunch upset him more than he was willing to admit. 

It solidified his completely rational decision to run out to the toy store with the last of the money in his wallet to grab all the toy machine guns he could afford. He hid them in a duffle bag in their closet, as his birthday present to her. He was sure Ian had already bought her something for both of them to give her, like a backpack or some other practical thing, but he knew what it was like to be that young and yearn for toys he couldn’t have. The only difference in their situations was that Franny had someone in her life who wanted to buy them for her. Who cared enough to want to see her happy. She never needed to feel the way he did growing up, in any way - and as long as he’s around, Mickey would make sure she doesn’t. 

As the party went on, he noticed Franny’s mood didn’t improve. The little girl was simply being guilt-tripped by her mother to go through the motions of cutting the cake and playing princess games, whatever that meant. 

Maybe Debbie was trying her best to give Franny a party she’d love - possibly to make up for being in jail for months - but Mickey was damn sure she was going about it all wrong. How could the party be successful if the birthday girl looked so unhappy? 

He looked around the room at his extended family, all wearing matching princess crowns and playing along with whatever game they were into at the moment, Mickey hadn’t been paying attention. He chewed on his lip as he tried to judge whether ruining his sister-in-law’s party would be worth her wrath, but he knew that everyone else could see how uninterested Franny was, including his tiara-wearing husband. Glancing back to Franny, he saw her looking in his direction with those classic puppy dog eyes. He did tell Franny he was going to talk to Debbie about this party and unfortunately he hadn’t been able to change her mind. The little shit was determined to be named the best parent in the family or whatever, so Debbie was planning on throwing the perfect party for her daughter - better than anything she’d ever had. Getting her to shut her trap after that little tirade was a feat, but Mickey had gotten through it and lived to tell the tale. He had planned on letting Ian know he should return whatever he’d bought Franny so he could go buy her some toy guns from both of them, but he figured Ian would try to talk him out of it, so he kept his trap shut, and decided to go buy them while everything was being set up for the party. 

It was a split-second decision when those puppy-dog eyes met his, Mickey was up out of his seat on the sofa and he ran up the steps to their room. He pulled the duffle bag out and tossed it onto the bed before he haphazardly unzipped it and pulled out the toy guns for Franny. He held one fake machine gun in each hand as he ran back down the steps and around the side of the sofa to hold them up where she could see. 

“Aye, Franny!” He yelled out her name over all the noise, dropping one of toy gun on the floor for himself. 

She turned to Mickey and gave him the brightest smile as she saw what he was holding. The toy gun in his hand made her excited enough to bounce up and down on the spot before her hand went up to her hair to tug off her crown. “YAY GUNS!” She screamed as Debbie looked horrified, but Mickey couldn’t help but let out an answering cheer of excitement.

Franny tossed her crown onto the coffee table and launched herself at Mickey, taking off and running right into his leg, wrapping her arms around it as she smiled up at him. “THANK YOU! Thank you, Uncle Mickey!” She screeched again and again, reaching her little hands up for the toy gun he was holding above her head. 

Mickey quickly bent over and handed it to her when he realized she wanted to hold it. “I got one too and we gotta play tag with ‘em now. But, I’ll give you a headstart.” He laughed softly as she unlatched herself from his leg and struggled to hold the toy in her tiny hands, since it was almost as big as her. 

She let out a happy yelp as she heard that, turning on her heels and running right through the living room containing all of her aunts and uncles and heading to the kitchen to hide. 

Ian watched their entire interaction with a smile playing on his lips, but then he caught his younger sister’s eye. He answered her glare and the bratty stomp of her foot with a simple shrug. This was all Mickey. All his big-hearted, kind, and caring husband’s idea. 

He watched on as Mickey chased after Franny with a toy gun in his hands too, trying not to laugh but failing. The duo ran back to the living room and all around the party guests after Mickey found Franny’s hiding spot under the kitchen table, resulting in a huge game of tag as the Gallagher siblings deposited their crowns on the coffee table and joined in. 

After a while, Mickey tapped out, seeking out Franny who had lost her gun to Liam in the last round. He passed his toy gun to her so she could keep playing and he searched the room to try to find Ian. Before he could take a step towards his husband who was sitting on the loveseat in the corner of the room, he felt little arms hug around his thigh again. “Thanks, Uncle Mickey! Best birthday ever!!” She exclaimed her happiness much to her mother’s dismay. 

Ian was shaking his head at Mickey by the time his husband made his way over to him and sat across his lap. Ian wrapped his arm around the base of Mickey’s back and pulled him in closer until he was bearing most of Mickey’s weight, kissing his temple and smiling lovingly. “Debbie’s gonna be pissed at you for a while…” He commented offhandedly. 

“Yeah.” Mickey chuckled in agreement as his eyes followed Franny around the room. It looked like she was winning this time. He smiled as he nodded his head at her, “But look how happy the kid is.” He spoke in a warm tone. 

Mickey could feel the force of Ian’s heart-eyes start to bore holes into the side of his head so he turned to meet them head on. “What, princess?” He asked in a breathless, challenging way - while being Mickey and teasing him for still wearing the crown. Before the word was all the way out of Mickey’s mouth, Ian had pressed his full lips to Mickey’s. 

Ian cupped the back of Mickey’s head and pulled him in closer as his hand on Mickey’s hip tightened. He opened his mouth into the kiss first and waited for Mickey to catch up. 

When it didn’t happen fast enough, Ian broke the kiss to rest his forehead against Mickey’s. Opening his eyes and looking up into Mickey’s he couldn’t help but mumble, “I love you.”

Mickey’s heart overflowing with his own compassion and generosity was overwhelming, but he opened his eyes to see Ian as well, speaking the four words as clear as day. “I love you more.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to jillin5 for being the best beta. Thanks to my girls, Shane and Andie, for your unparalleled ideas and your unconditional support. Love you guys ❤️❤️


End file.
